Tyres we have used in South America (2010-2018):
Dunlop Grandtrek AT3 - good tyre on the highway, OK offroad
Pirelli Scorpion AT - similar to the Dunlops
Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S - the best of these three - good on the highway, more capable offroad.
In 2017 we made a "big trip" through...
We haven;t been able to get back to Canada (I have a Canadian passport) for 15 months now (and we were in Australia for a year prior to that). If we can ever get back we plan a 6 month wander and will certainly be heading to the North of Saskatchewan!
Apart from the advantages you mention, a significant advantage of a wagon over a pick-up is handling (by which I mean cornering stability (horizontal and vertical corners) and ride). Lateral stability is significantly less when travelling in a pick-up on good gravel roads. RIde quality is, in my...
Curiosity - what's the other side of that mountain? ...who lives across that river? ...what music do they play? ...what kinds of food could we find which are different? ...are there traditional textiles/weaving?
It's all about learning about the world.
Essentially repeating others' comments - it depends on what you want to do. If it's short local trips to interesting back trails the advice will be very different for that for trips of many months in other continents.
In our case we've had vehicles which are as new as we can afford, kept them...
Short answer - "before you get stuck"/
Long answer - as others note, depends on the vehicle - our LC80 was permanent "true" 4x4. Our Montero is 2WD, 4WD Hi, 4WD Low, and 4WD low with lock. We've owned a variety over the years and have always selected as follows:
- dry tarmac - 2WD (other...
The case of which I was thinking was this one:
- 67 Km to cross the Biosphere Forest Reserve on an alleged "road"
- local advice (Forestry Ranger) - "no problem in that vehicle"
- 10 minutes in - a couple of vehicle tracks, a few motorbike tracks
- 45 minutes in - one set of bike tracks left
-...
Nothing wrong with better dampers, although I wouldn't change them until the original ones wear out. A lift will not improve the comfort, so I wouldn't bother unless you plan to cross a lot of deep sand or deeply rutted tracks.
I wouldn't touch it - the standard capability is one of the best, if not the best (apart from an original Hummer for example, which is also far less comfortable). You could drive it from NY to Argentina and back without touching the suspension.
... and while I think of it, in the spirit of the question - my Jeep Cherokee was bought new in Texas, sold after 176,000 Km in Europe.
Problems? None!
Current vehicle - Montero GLX bought new - now with almost 69,000 Km on it, 45, 000 Km of which were a trip around Australia, the rest at home in Colombia.
Problems? None
Previous vehicle (actually concurrent but in another continent) - LC80 bought with 284,000 Km on it, sold after two years...
Interesting; for me those trips are seafaring.
Anyway, to overcome the confusion and “debate” I’m now calling what we do on our big trips “landfaring”.
Not sure it helps, however I'm recalling one trip from Zimbabwe into Botswana (when there were no tarred roads except for 50 Km north of the capital), through the Eastern Kalahari, and back, during which I crossed lots of dry river beds, lots of sand, and at one river pulled a pick-up, a wagon...
Hmm - obviously a language barrier - to me rocker panels are the panels on either side of the "rocker box" on the top of engine where the valve rockers are.... : )
For the last "big trip" having improved our efficiency over the previous ones:
two pairs of underwear each
two pairs of socks each
two fast-dry T-shirts each
two fast-dry shirts each
two fast-dry long pants each
one fast-dry pair of shorts (me)
one "technical" sweater each
one "tri-climate"...
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